A variety of technologies for assisting automated drive have been proposed conventionally.
For example, a vehicle information presentation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-126888 (JP 2004-126888 A) includes a lane keep control device that captures a scene ahead of a vehicle using a capturing device and that performs image processing on the captured image to recognize the vehicle position with respect to the white line position on a road. The lane keep control device also controls a steering operation device so as to keep the vehicle position within a lane. Meanwhile, in the case where a control disabled location at which control by the lane keep control device is disabled has been registered within a prescribed distance from the vehicle, an information presentation control section notifies a driver of the control disabled location to encourage drive that does not rely on the lane keep control device.
Meanwhile, a semi-automated drive system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-023094 (JP 2001-023094 A), for example, includes a lane-maintaining travel control section that detects the white line position on a road from an image captured by a camera and that automatically controls the travel direction such that the vehicle travels along the white line. In the case where the white line position cannot be detected, the lane-maintaining travel control section stops lane-maintaining travel, and outputs a stop signal to an informing control section. In the case where a stop signal is input, the informing control section informs a driver that lane-maintaining travel has been stopped.